Coverage
by PagetPaulson
Summary: "Meme, where were you?"
1. Chapter 1

Catching the skeleton head her friend threw at her, Emily let out a laugh, having it drop down to her desk. "Gross," she chuckled, watching Derek do his best to catch his breath again. "What has you so creeped out?"

The other agent shook his head. "I'm not into the whole scary thing. Don't we get enough of that?" Leaning back in his chair, the bald man gave his friend a wink. "The way to spend Halloween is to have some wine, put on a movie and sit back with a little Halloween honey."

"Ew," Emily snorted, seeing Reid's confusion as he sat down at his desk. "Halloween honey? Now I'm creeped out."

"Have you two met Agent Rossi yet?"

Turning back to the genius across from her the brunette nodded. "He seemed really nice," she smiled, getting her file together for Hotch. "I met him over at the kitchenette yesterday morning, and he met Penelope. He seemed a little confused by her," the FBI agent laughed.

Derek sighed. "He seemed a little uptight."

"He's sixty-two years old," Reid pointed out, "and a lot's changed since he and Gideon started this unit. I'm sure he has some opinions on everything."

Emily looked up from the papers she was organizing. "You didn't get to meet him yet, did you?" She knew he was still getting over Gideon's quick departure so a change of subject was best. "I know you have all of his books."

The younger man was quick to nod his head, slipping off his mask and sitting down at his desk. "Every one he's ever written. I've read _How to Catch A Killer_ by David Rossi a record four hundred times."

"Four hundred?"

All three BAU agents stood from their desks to greet the newest member of their team.

The previously retired FBI agent smiled to the agent in a sweater vest, letting Hotch leave them for a moment to get Penelope from the kitchenette. "I've met some really crazy fans but I've ever met one with that much time on their hands."

Reid shook his head. "It only takes me fourteen minutes to read through it."

The goateed man stared blankly at the genius.

"He's a genius with an eidetic memory," Emily supplied, laughing along with Derek as they tried to get the older man to stop staring. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Dave, you've met Penelope."

The blond woman was quick to raise a hand and wave at the older man. "Nice to meet you again, Agent Rossi. Can I do anything for you? Get you some coffee?" she asked with a smile. "A neck pillow for when the day feels too long? Can I help decorate your office?"

The writer in the room tried for a smile. "I'm alright for now, thank you." He watched her walk away before he turned to face the others in the bullpen. "I thought you said there were six of you."

"Jennifer Jareau is our media liaison," Hotch nodded, leading his old friend away from the desks and up toward his office. "She doesn't call us in for a briefing until ten, but today she's just dealing with paperwork."

Watching the two older men walk away, Reid held a smile on his face.

"You did good," Emily nodded to him, knowing he was waiting for a confirmation. Smiling until he sat down and turned his head, the agent looked back to her friend to her right. "How about now?"

"Still uptight," Derek answered.

Looking over to the older woman who sat next to him, Derek found himself grinning. "Wore a skirt today, huh Princess?" When she turned to look to him, he saw her grimace. "How long are those legs?"

"Long enough to reach out and put my heel up your ass."

Derek's face fell. "Harsh, Princess?"

Emily grinned at the look on his face before going back to her files, her heel poking at the silky skin of her leg as she crossed them in her seat. "Do you guys want lunch in an hour?"

"You buying?"

The ambassador's daughter frowned. "I'll drive, you buy."

"Emily?"

Spinning in her seat, one of the newest members to the team smiled to their resident liaison. "Hey JJ," she smiled. "Hey, do you want to come to lunch later? Derek said he was buying."

The darker agent threw up his hands. "I did not!"

JJ's lips thinned, watching the interaction with narrow eyes. "Emily, I need you for a minute."

Emily frowned, noticing the demeanor of the younger woman. Standing from her seat, she made her way over to JJ near the BAU entrance doors. "What's the matter?"

"I got a call for you." She gestured out the doors and toward her office. "It's your mother."

Immediately the ambassador's daughter raced by her new friend and out the glass doors. She slid past a few agents talking near JJ's office door before racing inside, picking up the phone and taking it off hold. "Mother?"

"I'm so sorry, Emily."


	2. Chapter 2

JJ rushed back into the bullpen to grab her friend's things from her desk, remembering the worry in the older woman's voice the moment she got on the phone.

"Jay?"

The blond didn't look up from her task as she shoved a few files she knew the brunette had been working on into her arms to give their boss. "Derek, Em can't go to lunch later."

Frowning, the older man watched in confusion as his friend raced around Emily's desk. "What's going on?"

"I can't say anything," she said sadly. "It's really not my place to say. Tell Hotch Emily had to leave early?" Before the men could question her once more she was running back out of the bullpen and to her office.

She was quick to find her new friend almost slamming the phone back into the receiver. "What is it?"

Emily took her jacket from the younger woman, her head shaking. "I have to go."

"Do you need me to drive you?"

She didn't realize how much she was shaking before the blond in the room had to steady her, keeping her from falling back into the chair. "Yeah," she answered slowly, her eyes searching the room for her bag. "No yeah, that would be good."

JJ brushed the hair from her friend's eyes, handing her the purse she was looking for. "It's going to be ok."

The brown eyed woman forced herself to keep her tears back as she followed JJ out toward the elevators.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Emily kept her shoulders straight, watching the doors slide close before them. Her mother hadn't been the most stable influence in her life, having dragged her from country to country growing up and then leaving her to spend her days with nannies and the new people at her schools that never accepted her for who she was. The Ambassador had never been a person to look up to in general, from Emily's point of view, but all in all she was still her mother.

"No thank you," she whispered.

The brunette followed her friend to the car and let her hop into the driver's seat. Slowly sliding herself into the Mercedes, Emily leaned back into the passenger seat.

JJ looked to the other agent with sad eyes. "Where do you want me to go?"

"U.S Embassy."

The media liaison hid her surprise and took off out of the East Wing parking lot. She had known Emily's name was familiar to her and during her second day at work, Reid had found out why. But JJ didn't want to hear the gossip about the new team member. When Emily was ready to tell her, she would tell her.

Emily wanted to rest her head back against the seat to try and calm herself, but she was too stiff. She sat, shoulders straight, in the passenger seat of her own car with her eyes shut tight.

"We're here."

The surprise of how quick the twenty minute rise had Emily's eyes snap open. Barely waiting until the liaison put the car in park, she threw the door open and ran herself to the front doors.

"Emily," the butler realized, his eyes softening on the familiar woman. "I'm so sorry."

Hearing JJ come up behind her, the ambassador's daughter walked into the mansion. "Where is she?" She dropped her purse and followed the butler's direction to her mother's parlor.

JJ tried to stop her eyes from wandering the interior of the embassy as she followed her friend through the halls. The majority of the walls were a dark mahogany wood to match the floorboards, until they got the main hallway where the walls were a crystal clean white with portraits and plaques. A few were noticeably of her new friend when she was younger, standing at the foot of her mother and a man she guessed was her father, but a few others were of the Ambassador and another little girl.

"Maia?"

The blond turned to the sound of Emily's voice and ran in through the same doors. "Emily?"

Emily noticed the bundle of dark curls sitting in her mother's favorite chair. "Maia?" She waited for the little girl to spin around in her seat before she ran over to her, scooping the five year old up into her arms. "Maia baby, I'm so sorry." Holding the hiccupping girl to her chest, she rocked her, Emily's tears finally falling and sparkling in Maia's dark hair.

"Nana's gone, Meme," she sobbed, her tiny arms tight around Emily's neck.

"I know, baby. Mommy's so sorry."

JJ cautiously stepped closer to the two, watching her new friend stand with the little girl in her arms.

Emily pressed a couple of long kisses to the five year old's tear stained cheek. "This is mommy's friend," she whispered into her ear. "She's going to help us with nana's stuff, ok?"

"Meme," the five year old cried, burying her face in her mother's neck.

Emily met JJ's eyes across the room, letting Maia use the crook of her neck as a tissue. "I know, sweetie," she hiccupped, hugging her daughter tight. "I know."


	3. Chapter 3

Emily held her daughter's back against her chest as she waited for her mother's maids and lawyers to leave the room. It had taken almost an hour for her and her baby girl to calm down before her mother's advisors had found them and started asking about the funeral arrangements.

Immediately the blond who was nice enough to have driven the second newest BAU agent shooed them away. She had lost her sister and that was painful; she couldn't imagine the pain of losing her mother.

"Meme?"

Emily kissed Maia's right temple as she shifted in her lap.

Walking back over to the pair sitting in what she assumed was the late ambassador's favorite chair, JJ stood with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked to the little girl, a spitting image of her mother, and she smiled. "You look just like your mommy, do you know that?"

Maia shrunk lightly under the new woman's gaze.

"This is mommy's friend Jennifer," Emily whispered into her daughter's ear. Watching her friend sit in the chair on the other side of her mother's table, Emily ran her fingers through the five year old's hair. "Can you say hi?"

The dark eyed girl almost pouted. "Hallo."

JJ's surprised eyes shot up to the other agent in the room. "German?"

Emily gave a proud smile, her eyes still shining with tears. "She's fluent."

The five year old's eyes shot over to the blond across from her and her mother, her tiny hands gripping the edge of the table. "Sie sprechen?" she asked excitedly. _You speak?_ "Meme hat mich gelehrt!" _Meme taught me!_

Emily could see the confusion written across her new friend's face and gently patted her daughter's arm. "I don't think she knows much more, baby."

"Oh." Sinking back into her mother's hold, the educated little girl felt her face fall. "Nana knew."

Immediately Emily's eyes teared again, thinking of the woman who had agreed to help her raise her little girl. "Yeah," she choked back, "nana knew some."

"I bet you look just like your nana too," JJ nodded. She remembered seeing the woman both her friend and the little girl were mourning on TV a few years ago. "Did you spend a lot of time with your nana?"

Maia let her mother play with her hair. "Every day," she agreed.

"Every day? Wow. I wish I spent that much time with my grandma."

Her blue eyes flickered up to those dark ones of the older woman in the room, trying her best to smile and let her know it was ok. "You know Maia, your mommy is one of my new friends. She's told me so much about you already."

Emily felt a pang of guilt hit her heart. There was a reason she never spoke about the little girl who changed her life, but she knew none of those who she now called her friends would understand.

"Like what?"

JJ smiled to the young girl. "Like your favorite color." She looked back up to the older woman and watched as she pointed to the colored bow in Maia's hair. "Purple."

The upset girl slowly nodded her head. "Do you like purple?"

"Oh, I love purple." She took out the necklace she wore from underneath the collar of her blouse and showed it to the five year old. "Do you see this necklace? It has a purple jewel in it. My sister gave it to me, isn't that nice?"

"Why?"

Emily's eyes followed the moving features of the blonde's face as she told them her sister's story. With every word her arms wrapped tighter around her daughter's small body, her cheek against the five year old's dark hair to cuddle her closer.

JJ crossed her legs in her seat. "Did your nana give you any presents?"

The five year old pointed up to the bow in her hair.

"That's the prettiest bow I've ever seen." Watching as the young girl started to warm up to her, the blue eyed woman winked. "What's your mommy's favorite color?"

"Red!"

Emily pressed a kiss to her daughter's curls before lifting her off of her lap and setting her on the floor. "You go and find nana's favorite slippers, ok?" Maia's favorite thing to do was wear their shoes and walk around like she was one of the older women. But when Maia was sad, she would wear her grandmother's slippers and pretend like she was ice skating around the embassy.

Once her daughter was out of her sight, the new agent looked to the woman across from her. "Thank you," she almost whispered.

"I'm so sorry about your mom," the blond stated softly, watching as the older woman took one of the ambassador's handkerchief's from the small drawer above the fireplace to stop her tears.

"We weren't close." Emily rolled her eyes to try and stop her tears as she shrugged. "Maia was more of her daughter than I was."

JJ chewed into her cheek. She listened to the bustling outside the parlor from the ambassador's servants and lawyers, and her eyes locked with Emily's when the standoffish woman sat back in her seat. "Why didn't you tell any of us about her?" When Emily's gaze shifted to her feet, JJ leaned forward in her chair. "About Maia?"


	4. Chapter 4

Crossing her legs just as her mother had once taught her, Emily sat back in the comfortable chair. It had taken another hour for her to get her daughter down for a nap, the little girl knowing that she hadn't needed one since her last birthday, but with everything that had gone on that day Emily thought it was best to let the tired girl get some rest and finally she could talk to JJ about what had gone on.

"If you're not ready," the blond offered, shrugging her shoulders. She could see how uncomfortable her friend was.

The single mother gave a lick to her lips before she shook her head, a small breath escaping her. "I love Maia," she started off. "I need you to know that, first off."

JJ almost laughed. "Emily, I saw your love for her the moment you had me drive you here. If you had seen the look of worry on your face," she breathed.

Emily slowly nodded her head, brushing her hair behind her shoulders. "When I got pregnant with Maia, it wasn't the best situation. I wanted her, I've always wanted a child, but I wasn't able to take care of her the way I needed to."

The liaison sat forward. "Her father?"

"He was a good man." The brunette glanced down to her hands, her fingers digging into her ivory skin, as her eyes stung. "We were in love."

"Is he around?"

Emily's head lifted. "His name was Michael, and I had known him for just two years. He was sweet, and he was good to me," she nodded, making sure her friend understood, "but I didn't know about his past." Bringing up a shaking hand, she brushed a tear from the inner corner of her eye.

JJ immediately straightened, watching as Emily's hands gripped at the material of her slacks. "Did he have another family?" When the brunette didn't answer, she tried again. "Was he running from the law or something?"

The single mother fought her chuckle, knowing her new friend was doing her best to try and put the pieces together. "I told you, he was a good man." Uncrossing her legs, the ambassadors' daughter sighed. "He was an undercover agent. CIA; he was the best they had." She sucked in a breath, her hands going to her knees. "He told me everything when I told him I was pregnant."

She bit her lip, imagining the older man before her. "He asked his superiors if he could get out, and they told him that if he found something on the guy they were having him trail then he could be taken out of his mission. The drug unit thought they had his identification at one of the crime scenes, so they sent Michael." The brunette let out a shuddered breath. "We were going to get married."

JJ reached forward, taking Emily's fidgeting hand in hers.

Pursing her lips slightly as she fought the tears she could feel coming on, Emily kept her eyes off the younger woman's. "He got a call to go out and follow the suspect, so I promised him a good meal when he came back. Something to congratulate him for a job well done," she shrugged, "but after an hour I got a call." Emily couldn't get the rest of the words out before her free hand came up to cover her mouth.

"Emily, I'm so sorry."

The agent was quick to shake her head, taking her hand back from her friend. "After having Maia, I realized that I wasn't ready. I wasn't a good mother for her, so I asked my mom if she could do me a favor and just keep her for a while."

"And she stayed with her for five years?"

Emily's watering eyes connected with the blond before her. "I signed over temporary custody until I felt I was ready to give Maia the mother she deserved, but then my mother got a transfer and she took her to Germany without notifying me."

JJ's jaw dropped. "She can't do that."

"That was the point of the custody order," Emily stated dryly, "she could do that. My mother didn't think I was ready for full custody. And then I got the job at the BAU after Chicago, and she thought that me trying to further my career proved to her even further that I wasn't ready." Emily remembered how badly she wanted to slap her mother right then and there. Like she was one to talk.

The blue eyed woman watched the emotions rush over her friend's face before she had time to slip each one into a category. "Can I tell you something?"

Emily kept her eyes off the younger woman, trying to compose herself.

"In the few minutes I've seen you with Maia, I can see how great a mother you are." She saw the look of skepticism written across Emily's face. "I mean it," she smiled. "You can tell she loves you. A blind man can see how much you love her."

Wiping her tears once more, the agent did her best to send JJ a smile. "Thank you."

"Meme!"

Emily held back her sigh, getting herself up from her chair. "I bet she never even went to sleep," she laughed lightly. "I'm going to go check on her."

Standing along with the older woman, someone she was now proud to call her friend, JJ let her purse slide to her elbow. "I have to go back to the office, but I have your car."

"I can have someone from here drive me." There were ten servants to every one person living in the embassy. "I can get a ride back."

"Do you need anything?"

Emily gave a slow shake of the head. Taking a chance, the older woman took a step forward and wrapped the smaller woman up in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered, her tears coming back.

JJ smiled into Emily's dark hair. "Call me if you need anything."

Walking out of the small parlor room, the liaison could hear Emily making her way back to Maia's room and immediately calming the little girl down. It was as if she automatically switched from agent to mother, and it was a sight for JJ to see. How could the ambassador not have noticed?


	5. Chapter 5

"Maia," the brunette sighed, running her hands down her face. The five year old refused to get back into bed after Emily had gotten her to help pack up her late mother's belongings.

Waving off the servants for the night Emily had made her daughter dinner, thankfully having remembered her favorite meal. They ate in the theater room with the five year old cushioned in her mother's lap, and when she started nodding off she knew it was time to put her to bed.

"Meme," Maia retorted, rolling her eyes at her mother before plopping down on her bed. "I'm not tired."

Emily hid her smile as her daughter's big brown eyes drooped. "I think you are." Sitting on the edge of the purple and pink princess bed, Emily patted the comforter to signal for Maia to come to her.

Laughing lightly, the five year old ran to the end of the bed and rushed into her mother's arms.

"Goodness, you're so big!" the agent huffed dramatically. She scooped the giggling girl up into her arms and kissed her hair.

Maia imitated her mother and pressed a kiss to Emily's dark hair that fell around her shoulders before pulling away. "Meme, I missed you," she whispered tiredly.

Emily's smile slowly faded as she watched her daughter rub her eyes. "Why don't we lay down?" she asked Maia, pulling back the comforter for them. She slipped underneath it and cuddled the brunette girl to her side. "Do you know how much mommy missed you?"

Squinting her eyes the young girl looked up to her mother. "This much?"

"Only that much?" Emily laughed, noting the fingers Maia had spread about an inch. "That's all?"

Maia laughed loudly, feeling her mother's fingers tickle her sides. She laid her head back on her pillow and spread her arms wide. "This much, meme!"

The agent took Maia's hands in hers and peppered them with kisses. "So much more," she promised her daughter, leaning down to kiss Maia's forehead. "So much more than you could even imagine, my love." Looking down into the brown eyes that matched Maia's father's, Emily felt her heartbeat stutter. "Did nana tell you why I couldn't be with you?"

Maia's forehead wrinkled as she thought back. "You had to work."

Emily did her best to keep her face straight at the answer. "That's right, I did have to work for a little bit. But nana worked and she looked after you."

"So why couldn't you?"

Leveraging herself on her elbow, Emily used her fingers to lift her daughter's chin. "Look at me, baby." When Maia's eyes met hers, Emily gave her a smile and ran her fingers through Maia's dark hair. "Do you remember two years ago on Christmas Eve when you came to stay at my house and you asked me about your daddy?"

The quick nod she got from the little girl was telling.

"And remember that I told you that your daddy had passed away?" she asked quietly. "Well after he passed away, I didn't think that I would be able to take care of you by myself."

Maia frowned, her fingers playing with her mother's necklace. "Why not?"

Emily was quick to clear her throat, feeling tears prick her eyes. "I was really upset when your daddy passed away and I didn't think that I would be able to take care of you because of that. I needed to take some time to make myself better before I would be able to be the best mommy I could be."

She could see the crease between her daughter's eyebrows. She could remember seeing that same look on Michael's face hundreds of times.

"But you were gone a long time."

Emily's chest tightened at the confused look Maia's face held.

"Why did you have to wait so long," the five year old wondered, "to be my mommy?"

The brunette woman could hear herself sniffle as she took Maia's hand. She couldn't tell her the truth. Maia would never remember her nana the same way again. "Well, sometimes it takes people a long time to fully recover. For me it took longer than I thought, but now I'm ok."

"Are you sure?" Maia quickly sat up and put her hand to her mother's cheek. "Do you need a bandaid?"

Emily gave a watery chuckle. Sitting herself up she brought her daughter to her chest and hugged her tight. "I'm ok baby, I promise." Pulling back, the FBI agent moved Maia's hair from her eyes. "Even though I wasn't here, I think nana did a really good job in raising you."

The five year old's pale cheeks blushed. "Me too!"

"Now what do you say about going to bed so we can wake up early in the morning and make banana pancakes?" she asked with a grin.

"My favorite!"

Emily got the giggling girl to lay back down beside her before she reached to turn off the lamp. She knew Maia wasn't going to take her grandmother's death well, but the more she could hold herself together the better it would be for her daughter. It wouldn't be even a day before she would have to deal with child protective services.


End file.
